Veterinary Lead Scotland

Job summary

Are you an experienced veterinary leader with the vision, credibility and resilience to lead Scotland's animal health and welfare delivery services, influencing policy and decision-making at the highest levels?Do you thrive in strategic leadership roles, inspiring high-performing teams and building strong partnerships across government and industry to safeguard animal health, welfare and biosecurity?

If so, we would love to hear from you!

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) is a brilliant place to work where our people feel valued, have a voice and can be their authentic selves. We value difference and diversity, because it helps us be more innovative and make better decisions.

We are dedicated to being an inclusive employer, offering equitable opportunities for all individuals. Our goal is to build a diverse workforce, and we hope to attract applications from all backgrounds and underrepresented groups.

Job description

The Veterinary Lead Scotland is a senior strategic leadership role responsible for leading geographically dispersed, multidisciplinary teams during and between animal disease outbreaks and other emergency situations. The postholder must quickly establish credibility with staff and stakeholders, provide clear direction and priorities, and support the delivery of Scottish Government animal health and welfare policies while continuing to build a positive, supportive, and sustainable organisational culture.

The role provides high-level veterinary leadership, including contributing to the implementation of APHA's veterinary and technical strategy, overseeing clinical governance across a range of operational settings, and representing APHA at strategic boards and national, and occasionally international, forums. The successful candidate will also lead key relationships across APHA, government, and external stakeholders while undertaking significant line management responsibilities as a senior leader within the agency.

A key aspect of the role is driving organisational change and modern ways of working. The Veterinary Lead Scotland will be expected to role model APHA values, embed cultural improvements, and support a flexible, agile, and digitally enabled approach through effective matrix management and collaborative leadership.

Your responsibilities will also include, but are not limited to:

• Ensuring that all veterinary and technical activities are prioritised and delivered to the highest standards, in accordance with desired policy outcomes, business plans and standard operating procedures.

• Working with the relevant, Heads of Field Delivery (HoFD) to address performance and quality, using risk management and adhering to budgetary controls to ensure value for taxpayers' money.

• Leading on veterinary decisions that have the potential for high impact with high uncertainty. Deploying risk assessments that are based on the most accurate available evidence, making informed decisions that have included policy considerations.

• Building effective relationships with local senior stakeholders and partners to influence end user behaviour regarding compliance with animal health and welfare strategies and policies.

• Working with APHA colleagues to monitor and assure consistency of compliance with quality and safety standards of the Veterinary Development Partnership contractors in their area.

• Delivering the APHA vision to all staff and contributing to the corporate leadership of the Agency.

• Contributing to the design, development and implementation of national policy initiatives and reforms, undertaking important roles on programme boards, project teams and working groups.

• Contribute to and promote directly or indirectly, training initiatives, staff development opportunities and ensure appropriate succession planning.

• Line management of a team of Veterinary Advisors

Person specification

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following skills and experience:

• Experience in providing strategic leadership to multidisciplinary, geographically dispersed teams, ensuring the delivery of complex targets within constrained resources. Fostering a high-performance culture by coaching and developing leaders and teams, championing continuous learning, and driving sustained organisational improvement
• Comprehensive skills, knowledge, and ability in multiple areas of applied state veterinary medicine in veterinary public health settings
• Knowledge of statutory and non-statutory disease legislation, veterinary jurisprudence, ethics, UK livestock industry, disease diagnosis and investigation, threat characterisation, risk management, enforcement, and control
• Proven track record of strategic veterinary leadership and decision-making during incident and outbreak response, complex case work, contingency planning, and business continuity
• Experience of building effective networks with policy customers, stakeholders, and operational partners.
• Ability to set up and work within an auditable system of procedures and processes, maintaining and assuring appropriate levels of quality assurance and quality control

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Veterinary
• Technical knowledge of statutory disease, risk assessment and prioritisation

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £69,931, Animal and Plant Health Agency contributes £20,259 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Learning and Development

At APHA, we are committed to supporting you to develop your skills, knowledge, and professional capability throughout your career.

From day one, you will be welcomed through a structured induction programme, helping you understand the Civil Service, our work, and how we operate. You’ll work closely with your line manager to set clear priorities and develop a performance, learning, and development plan tailored to your role.

Alongside formal training, you will have opportunities to apply and develop your knowledge in a practical environment, contributing to continuous improvement and innovation.

Inclusion, support, and the wellbeing of our people are central to what we do, ensuring everyone at APHA can thrive both professionally and personally.

Benefits

• Civil Service Pension - Defra contributes an average of 28.97% of your salary towards your pension
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities tailored to your role.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts from retailers such as High street coffee shops, Cinema’s, supermarkets, High street retailers and many, many more.
• Staff bonuses and recognition including appreciate vouchers of up to £200 and larger in year awards of up to £1000,
• Salary sacrifice benefit options and an employ